


Summer at the Inn

by Julesmonster



Series: The Rainbow Inn [8]
Category: Bones (TV), House M.D., NCIS, Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-19
Updated: 2012-09-19
Packaged: 2017-11-14 14:41:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/516293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Julesmonster/pseuds/Julesmonster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The boys are back at the Inn, and Jerry has a big announcement... 8th story in the Rainbow Inn universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Summer at the Inn

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> A/N: Eighth story in the Rainbow Inn Universe.

Jerry did his last minute check of the guest rooms before heading down the stairs to the entry hall to meet the boys. Since Ryan's death last fall, he had been relying more and more on the help of one of the local girls to make sure that everything was ready and clean and had begun sending their linens out to be laundered. Even so, there was more to do than Jerry seemed to be able to keep up with at his age. He now did all the cooking on top of the books, the gardening, the shopping, and maintenance. He just didn't seem to have the energy to do it all alone. When Ryan had been with him, Jerry had been free to putter around the garden and did the books at his leisure. It was all a pleasure. Now… now everything seemed to be a chore. Even his beloved garden—what Ryan had always called his labor of love—was more labor than love these days.

Ryan had passed in the most peaceful way possible, and Jerry was glad for that. There had been no wasting away, as they had seen so many of their friends go through. There were no months in and out of the hospital. There was no pain and no suffering. Jerry hoped that when he went, he could go in a similar way.

Their boys, as he and Ryan had begun to think of them, had just left, but Justin, the youngest and yet in many ways the wisest of them all, returned because he'd left his cell phone behind. He'd found Jerry just sitting with Ryan, holding his hand and staring out at the valley outside their window. If Justin hadn't come back, Jerry wasn't really sure how long he might have sat there. Instead, Justin had called Brian and the two men had helped Jerry through the long and painful process of burying a loved one. Or cremating in Ryan's case.

The boys had all come for the funeral, and Brian and Justin had stayed with him through that entire dreadful week, not leaving until they were sure that Jerry would be alright. Since then, he'd gotten regular calls and visits from Brian. House rode out on his motorcycle about once a month to check on him. In fact, all the boys called pretty regularly and had been up to check on him at least once outside of their regular weekend visits.

But Brian… Brian had been there the most and called almost daily. The calls were never long, just enough to find out how things were, make sure that Jerry was taking care of himself, that sort of thing. In fact, it had been Brian who had arranged for Jerry to get help cleaning. And when the older man had complained that washing sheets was getting to be too much, Brian had arranged the linen service.

Brian liked to think that no one knew what he was doing, but Jerry knew that Justin knew. In fact, it had been Justin who had explained that Jerry reminded both he and Brian of a friend of theirs who had died of AIDS a few years back. Vic Grassi, Justin explained, had been more of a father figure to Brian than his own father. Brian had always regretted not being able to do more for Vic before he died. Justin rather thought that Brian was determined not to let another father figure slip away without doing everything in his power to make his life easier.

No matter what his underlying motivations, Jerry was grateful for everything that Brian had done for him. And Ryan. Brian's generosity had begun soon after their first meeting. It was thanks to Brian that the Rainbow Inn was now listed with rave reviews in all the B&B guides and had a website promoting their establishment and giving prospective guests a glimpse of not only the Inn but the amenities and the many attractions in the area. They were even featured in Gay magazines all over the east coast thanks to Brian. He had used all of his marketing skills to make their business a success, and had never once asked for a penny in return. In fact, he had refused every time Jerry had offered to let him and Justin stay for free.

Jerry stood in the doorway to the living room and looked at the painting of him and Ryan that Justin had painted. It now had a place of prominence over the fireplace where all the guests could see it. He sometimes just stood there and remembered all the times he and Ryan had sat on that porch swing and talked about their hopes and dreams. In truth, this Inn had been the culmination of a lifetime of dreams. It had always been what the two lovers had worked towards. Jerry's years as an accountant and Ryan's long days and nights in restaurant kitchens in New York had all been so that one day the two of them could buy the perfect little bed and breakfast in the country. It had taken a little longer than they had hoped, but they'd made it. And they had loved every day they had spent there together.

Now, though, Jerry was thinking that the Rainbow Inn had lost a bit of its charm. Without Ryan here to share both the burdens and the joys, Jerry knew he couldn't keep going indefinitely. He felt every one of his sixty-nine years these days. Just last week, one of Jerry's oldest friends had called from Florida. Mike had come up from the funeral, but couldn't stay long. Instead, he had come back and kept Jerry company through the holidays. Mike had lost his partner a couple years back and was alone in Miami now. He invited Jerry to come down and live with him. It wasn't about love or sex. It was more a matter of companionship and keeping loneliness at bay in their final years. Jerry wanted to take him up on the offer.

Jerry pushed away from the doorjamb and headed over to his desk in the hall to reread the letter he had gotten from Amstar Properties. They wanted to buy his land and turn the property into vacation houses and golf course. It wasn't what Jerry wanted, but the money was good and he could retire to Miami quite comfortably on that. He was going to ask Brian to look over the offer for him while he was there that weekend. He'd also have to let the others know that after October, there would be no more long weekends at the Rainbow Inn. In fact, there would be no more Rainbow Inn at all.

A pain went through Jerry's heart at that thought. Losing the Inn was like losing Ryan all over again.

**XOXOXOXOXOX**

Friday night was subdued, as though everyone could feel Jerry's tension and was internalizing it and making it their own. Of course, that wasn't strictly true. There was definitely some tension between House and Chase that had nothing to do with Jerry or the others. Jerry tried not to worry about them. Ryan had always been the one who noticed things like that, and he had always told Jerry that people who loved each other found ways to work things out. Jerry knew that House and Chase loved each other, so he hoped that Ryan was right—as he usually was—and they would work things out.

There was a tension coming from Justin as well, but Jerry was pretty sure that this was a positive sort of tension, the sort that said he had something good that he was dying to share with his friends. Since everyone knew that Justin had recently moved back to Pittsburgh to be with Brian, Jerry was sure that wasn't what had Justin so antsy while Brian simply sat back as cool and collected as always.

Justin shifted in his chair for the hundredth time in the short time they had been in the dining room together, bumping into and irritable House for the fifth time. "Will you sit still?" House finally snapped.

Justin opened his mouth to reply, but he was visibly struck down by House's attitude.

"Bloody hell, Greg," Chase muttered. "He's excited about something. Don't take your abysmal mood out on him."

House glared at his lover for a moment before turning back to Justin. "So? What's got you dancing in your seat?"

Justin was still a bit off balance from House's earlier remark, but he took a deep breath and smiled at the others around the table. "We're getting married!" There was a moment of shocked silence that was eerily similar to the one the couple faced from their friends and family back home not long ago. Undaunted, Justin plowed ahead. "And we want all of you to come out for the wedding. We have plenty of room at the house, so you wouldn't have to worry about finding a place to stay."

Brian grimaced at that. "Yeah… Sunshine's turning our home into a hotel for the duration. I think I might be staying at the downtown Marriot."

Justin smacked Brian's shoulder. "You will not. Gus will be at the house and you know you won't go anywhere else as long as he's in town."

"Congratulations," Jethro finally said, the first one to pull himself together enough to speak. Soon the others were all offering their best wishes. "So, when is the happy event?"

"The last weekend in October," Brian said. He looked to Jerry. "We'll get someone to take care of the Inn if you need it. We'd really like to have you there."

Jerry gave a small sad smile. "I wouldn't miss it for the world. I just wish Ryan could be there. He always said you were full of shit whenever you'd go off on one of your rants against marriage as a pointless heterosexual institution."

"He still thinks that it's pointless," Justin said. "But he likes to indulge me. That and Gus has been harping on him for the last year that he needs to marry me. What Gus wants, Gus gets…eventually."

"I'm not the only one who can't say no tot hat kid," Brian said with some obvious pride. "He got his moms to agree to move home."

This was news to Justin, who said, "Wait! They're moving home? When?"

Brian shrugged and smirked. "Not until January. Lindsey has to teach the courses at the university that she agreed to teach and they won't finish until December."

"Yes!" Justin said and hugged Brian tight. "That's the best news I've heard in… a long time."

"Sounds like your kid can sell an idea as well as his old man," House said, his attitude having lightened considerably with Brian and Justin's news. "Gonna take over the business someday?"

Brian shrugged. "Only if that's what he wants. You gotta love what you do to be successful in my line of work. But I certainly wouldn't turn Sonny Boy away if he said its what he wanted."

"So, how did he propose this time?" Tony asked Justin.

Justin grinned. "I can't tell you."

"What?" This came from a number of the others gathered around the table.

"I made him promise that he wouldn't say anything about how it all came about," Brian shrugged. "The little shit likes to spout off about how—ugh—romantic I can be. I had to find a way to stop the lies."

"So he said I couldn't tell anyone or else he'd turn our lovely little wedding into an orgy to end all orgies," Justin said. "While I wouldn't mind the orgy, I think my mother might object so…"

"So no story," Booth said with a chuckle. "Though the story behind the no story was interesting. We'll be there."

"Count us in," Tony said after a quick side discussion with Jethro.

All eyes turned to House who was picking out the raisins from the apple turnover Jerry had served for dessert. He was back to his sulky attitude. "What? Oh. Yeah we'll be there. I'll just make the new minions work the weekend if we have a case."

All eyes continued to observe House as he picked apart the layers of pastry and made a pile of the brown raisins in the center of a pool of melted ice cream. Jethro was the one who finally spoke. "Are you going to tell the rest of us what's been eating at you?"

House looked up again. He seemed surprised that anyone would notice his mope. "I was just…"

"He's angry pouting because our boss Cuddy told him that he can't keep all four of the doctors he wants to hire," Chase told them. "He's been conducting some strange game to select his new team. HE started with what? Twenty doctors?"

"Thirty," House said and then took a bite of the apples he'd pulled from the wreckage of his dessert plate. "I eliminated a whole row the first day. You were still at the conference."

"Okay, thirty doctors," Chase said with a roll of his eyes. "It's taken weeks, but he's got them whittled down to four pretty good doctors who will obviously put up with more of his shit than the average human."

"It's hard to believe he found four," Justin muttered.

Chase laughed, but House looked indignant. "I'll have you know, I had more than three hundred resumes to choose from, and every one of the twenty-six doctors I have eliminated so far would come back in a heartbeat if given the chance."

Chase grimace and said, "It is unfortunately true. His reputation as a medical genius seems to outweigh his reputation as an ass. So we're down to the best of the bunch now, but Cuddy's directive leaves us with a predicament."

"What's that?" Zack asked. He enjoyed puzzles of all kinds, even situational puzzles.

"There are two men and two women," House said. "One of the women I'm happy to send packing."

"She's as big a bitch as House is a bastard," Chase said carelessly.

House glared at his lover but continued, "And the other woman is both interesting and intelligent, but…"

"But the men are both better doctors," Chase said. "But if we get rid of both women, Cuddy will have a fit that the team is all male."

Zack nodded his head. "Based solely upon your situation, I would say that your best choice would be to select the two men and allow this Cuddy person to respond. As I see it, she could do one of three things. She could let you keep the two men. She could take your choice away from you and choose the two she wants. Or she could let you keep the men and hire the woman too. Since you prefer the two men, that option would not be completely untenable. And since you also respect the skill of this other woman, if she chose for you, you could still live with the outcome."

"And I'd have a one in three chance that she would give in and let me hire Thirteen," House said with a devious smile. "I like the way you think."

Chase groaned. He knew that House would be plotting to ensure that Cuddy let him keep all three. So much for a restful weekend.

"I have an announcement to make," Jerry said when the conversation lulled momentarily. All the men gave him their attention. "Um, well, first of all, I wanted to thank all of you for the support you've shown since Ryan died. I'm not sure how he and I were blessed with such good friends so late in life, but I know he cherished each of you and I certainly do as well."

Jerry paused for a moment and took a sip of his coffee. "Now for the hard part. I've… decided to sell the Inn. I can't really keep it going the way it should be run, and to be honest, my heart just isn't in it since Ryan left us." Jerry shook his head and blinked his eyes to regain control of his emotions. "I've got an offer from a development company that wants to build vacation homes here. It isn't the ideal solution, but… well, I guess it's just time for me to retire."

There were murmurs of sympathy and regret from all of the gang, but soon everyone was breaking up to enjoy drinks on the patio. The discussion about where they would meet from now on was the primary topic of conversation. Jerry, however, asked Brian to stay back and take a look at the letter and contract the development company had sent to him.

"You haven't signed anything yet, have you?" Brian asked once he had read through the papers.

Jerry shook his head. "No. I haven't even given them an answer of any kind. I asked their rep to give me a few weeks to think it over. I wanted to talk it over with you first."

Brian nodded but didn't say anything. He was busy reading the deed and map of the property and the zoning regulations for the vicinity. Jerry could tell that Brian's brain was working at light speed. "Jerry. I may have another option for you. I wouldn't be able to offer you as much for the property, but if everything works out the way I think it will, you could retain a percentage of the business and receive a portion of the profits."

Jerry was a bit confused. "What do you mean? I can't imagine you want to give up your company to move out to the country and run a bed and breakfast."

Brian laughed. "Not on your life, Jerry. No, but I do know a nelly queen who would absolutely adore this life, and he has a partner who is a chef. Right now they run a wedding planning business, but things have gotten tight lately because of the economy. I think the two of them would be perfect to run the Inn. And I think if we expanded the operation a little, we could seriously increase revenue."

"Expand how?" Jerry asked.

"Well, for one thing, the cabins on the edge of the property," Brian said pointing to the map. "They abut to the state gaming lands and most are within a hundred yards or less of the river. You told me yourself that there's great fishing in that river. Those cabins could easily be rented out to hunters or fishermen. Also, the stables. Right now, you are carrying the financial burden of the care and upkeep of the horses out of the Inn's profits, with only the fees from riders coming in to pay the stable hand. Now, there are currently only a quarter of the stalls being used. If we began boarding other horses, maybe offering riding lessons, there would be enough income to keep the stable actually profitable, instead barely breaking even."

Jerry looked impressed. "Never really thought of doing that. Ryan and I were always more concerned with the Inn and the horses were just a way to draw more guests."

Brian nodded. "I know. And that was a fine way to run the business when it was just the two of you, but if we're going to split the profits four ways, we need to make sure that we're more than just making ends meet."

"I can see that," Jerry said.

"Alright," Brian said. "Now, two more things. We'll need to convert the upstairs apartment into more rooms."

"Oh! But where will your friend and his partner live?" Jerry asked, already concerned for this unnamed person.

"We'll build them something on the property but private," Brian said. "I think we can put three more rooms on the third floor."

"There were six rooms up there before we converted the place, but were small and there were no bathrooms," Jerry said.

Brian nodded. "Yeah, I think three rooms is definitely doable. Now the last thing I think we should do is incorporate Emmett and Calvin's experience with wedding planning and create a place where couples can have both their wedding and honeymoon. That barn beside the lake, what is that?"

Jerry shrugged. "An empty barn. It was part of the original farm, but we never really had any use for it. It's structurally sound."

"I think it would be a great place for wedding receptions," Brian said. "We could either expand the kitchen here in the house to accommodate the catering, or build a kitchen down there. And it could be rented out for parties of all sorts, not just weddings."

"I can just imagine having the ceremony down by the lake with the sun setting over the mountains," Jerry said a bit wistfully. "And then all the guests meander up the path to the barn which is decorated with flowers and lights…"

"Now you sound like Emmett," Brian groused. "Listen. I'm going to call Emmett and my accountant Ted and have them come up and look everything over before we make any decisions. Ted will tell us if it's even feasible, or if he thinks you should take the offer from the developers."

Jerry nodded. "Okay. I was an accountant too, once upon a time. I know how to set aside romantic ideas and look at the bottom line, but I'll be honest; I'd rather the Inn was passed on to another gay couple to run. This place was our dream for a lot of years."

Brian nodded and clasped Jerry's shoulder in a reassuring manner. "I know. I can't guarantee everything will work out the way we want it to, but I can promise to try."

**XOXOXOXOXOX**

"What exactly did he say?" Ted whined for the thousandth time since Emmett and Calvin had picked him up at seven that morning.

"He said I needed to get you and Calvin and drag all three of our asses to that little B&B that he Justin like to visit all the time," Emmett said. "And no, he did not explain why, nor did he tell me why it was so important that we leave at the ass-crack of dawn. Now if you will be quiet, I do believe we have arrived."

Sure enough, Calvin was slowing the car to make the turn onto a private drive. Beside the road was a pretty sign that said "Welcome to the Rainbow Inn." As Emmett looked around, the first thing he noticed was the beautiful old farmhouse that was obviously the Inn. Painted in a soft butter-yellow, with clean white trim, it stood out against the green of the trees on the hills behind it. Next, Emmett noticed a lovely lake with a huge barn. The wildflowers around both were just darling. In the distance, he spotted stables. He didn't have a chance to see more, since Calvin pulled the car up beside Brian's corvette.

"It's about time you got here," Brian groused from the front porch as the three men climbed from the car. Justin was standing with him and shoved him before coming down the stairs to greet their friends.

"I can't believe Brian called you guys to come out like this," Justin said. "Thank you for coming."

"Anytime, baby," Emmett crooned and kissed Justin's cheek. "Now, we've been on the road for five hours, and I was promised lunch, so let's get to it. Then you and Brian can explain why the three of us are here."

Justin smile, "Yes, Emmett. Come on. Jerry's in the kitchen making lunch. All the others have gone out for the day."

In the end, Emmett was taken with Jerry and his story from the moment he met the older man. Brian might have been reminded of Vic, but Emmett was a sucker for a tragic love story. But eventually, they had finished the pasta salad and grilled trout and had retired to the shaded portion of the patio to finally talk about why they were there.

"So, you want to buy the Inn and want Calvin and me to run the place?" Emmett asked for clarification once Brian had finished his tale.

"You've both had to take on extra jobs to make ends meet lately," Brian said. "I thought you might be interested. And you would be partners in the business, not just employees."

Emmett and Calvin shared a silent look, but Calvin let Emmett talk, as usual. "Well, let's see the place and talk about what you want to do with it. Then Calvin and I can talk it over and let you know."

"Ted, while we do the tour, Jerry's going to show you the books, and then I want you to look over the contract the developers sent and the business plan I roughed out this morning. See what you think and let me know," Brian said and then left with Justin and the others.

Their first stop was the Inn itself. The two men had seen the first floor, but had not been given the full tour. After seeing the basement, the current rooms, and the private apartment that Brian wanted to convert into more rooms, they went back out the front and down towards the lake. All the while, Brian was telling them about the plans he and Jerry had discussed. Emmett piped in with an occasional comment or suggestion, and Justin joined in the conversation as well.

"Oh my!" Emmett said as they entered the barn. Brian had come down earlier and opened all the doors to let in the light and fresh air. There were wide doors on both ends as well as a door facing the lake, giving a wonderful view of the water and the hills beyond. "This is just perfect! The light and the landscape through the open doors… we'll need to clean the interior up some, but the space is just wonderful!"

"I was actually thinking of putting in two more doors on this side," Brian said. "That would open the whole space up, but still allow it to be closed off when needed."

Emmett nodded and looked around the interior. The hayloft only ran along one small end of the huge barn. "The loft would be a great place to put the kitchen, don't you think, Calvin?"

The quiet man nodded. "It would definitely be better to have a kitchen here. And if we closed off underneath, restrooms could be put in as well as a small staging room and coat room. And there would still be more than enough space for a reception of… 200? 250 people?"

"Maybe even 300 if we use the outdoor spaces strategically," Emmett agreed. "And yet it isn't so huge that it would overwhelm smaller parties."

"So you think it would be doable?" Justin asked. "I know it seems like we're out in the boondocks here, but we aren't very far from Wilkes Barre, Scranton, East Stroudsburg, or Allentown. And we're less than half a day's drive from northern New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and the Pitts."

"I think we could definitely make the wedding angle work," Emmett said. "People could have their wedding party stay here and the guests could stay in nearby hotels or resorts. I'd say we could move your wedding here, but I've already got half of the plans finished and I doubt we could have the construction done in time."

"We aren't moving our wedding," Justin said adamantly. "I've wanted our fucking wedding at the house since the first time around and by god we're having the fucking wedding there."

"That's my princess," Brian snarked. "Alright queers, enough wedding talk. Let's go take a drive to the cabins and then we can talk about where I thought we could build a small cottage for the two of you."

**XOXOXOXOXOX**

Brian and Justin saw Emmett, Calving and Ted off after dinner and sat on the porch swing for a few minutes before they went to join the others on the patio.

"You reserved rooms at a nice place, didn't you?" Justin asked.

Brian shrugged. "As nice as you can get in Bloomsburg. They'll be fine. It's only 45 minutes away and then they can get on the road home tomorrow."

"Ted seemed to think it was a good plan," Justin said. "And I think Emmett and Calvin will agree to run the place. You heard how excited Emmett was when he saw the barn. And with you marketing the place, it's sure to be a huge success."

"I know that," Brian said. "If I didn't think it would work, I never would have brought it up to Jerry."

Justin was quiet for a minute. "Yes you would have. You would have done it and lied to him about it just to make him happy."

Brian didn't answer, but he didn't deny it either.

"You, Brian Kinney, are a good man," Justin said. He leaned his head on Brian shoulder and the two of them watched the summer sun sink slowly into the hills.

**The End for Now**


End file.
